High Court rejects legal bid to prevent fracking in Lancashire, UK

The High Court has refused to grant an interim injunction preventing Cuadrilla from carrying out hydraulic fracking operations at the Preston New Road site in Lancashire. The ruling means that Cuadrilla can resume fracking in the UK for the first time since 2011. Mr Justice Supperstone also refused permission for judicial review of Lancashire County … Continue reading

Ineos granted permission in UK Green Belt for exploratory shale gas drilling

By Lucy Bruce Jones (UK) and Victoria McKeegan (UK) on June 11, 2018 Posted in Europe, Hydraulic fracking, United Kingdom

Ineos has been granted planning permission on appeal for exploratory shale gas drilling in the Green Belt, near Rotherham. In May 2017, petrochemical firm Ineos sought temporary permission for a period of five years for a shale gas well, access track and ancillary facilities at Common Lane, Harthill near Rotherham. Ineos claims that the site … Continue reading

PA Superior Court revives trespass claim against fracking company

By Barclay Nicholson (US) and Robby Marcum (US) on April 9, 2018 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, Marcellus Shale, Northeast, Pennsylvania, United States

Last Monday, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court revived a trespass claim against a fracking company. The claim, which was previously defeated by summary judgment, could return to the trial court for determination of its merits. In 2015, plaintiffs filed suit against the fracking company alleging trespass and conversion. Plaintiffs claim the company used … Continue reading

Study observes possible links between hydraulic fracturing wastewater injection and seismic activity in Kansas

By Barclay Nicholson (US) and Justin White (US) on February 28, 2018 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, Kansas, Midwest, United States

A new study published this month purports to link seismic activity in Kansas to wastewater disposal associated with hydraulic fracturing. Justin Rubinstein, the lead researcher, suggested that further research was needed to examine the effects of wastewater injections, stating that this study was “the tip of the iceberg as far as what we’re going to … Continue reading

Controversial study attempts to link fracking to poor infant health

By Barclay Nicholson (US) and Robby Marcum (US) on January 26, 2018 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, Northeast, Pennsylvania, United States

Last month, in an article published in the journal Science Advances, economics professors at Princeton University, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Los Angeles attempted to link fracking to low birth weight. The study is controversial, and has been criticized since its publication. Over the course of ten years, Janet Currie, Michael … Continue reading

Cuadrilla discovers ‘sizeable quantity’ of UK shale gas as UK anti-fracking case is rejected

By Lucy Bruce Jones (UK) and Barclay Nicholson (US) on January 19, 2018 Posted in Europe, Hydraulic fracking, United Kingdom

On January 12, 2018, exploration and production company Cuadrilla announced that it has recently discovered a “very sizeable quantity” of shale gas at its Bowland site in Lancashire (the Site). Cuadrilla revealed it has drilled to a depth of 2.7km at the Site and to date has recovered 375 feet of core samples. When combined … Continue reading

BLM to rescind 2015 fracking rule

By Barclay Nicholson (US) on January 1, 2018 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, United States

Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) announced that it will publish a final rule to rescind a 2015 regulation requiring companies to disclose the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. Decried by both the BLM and oil and gas trade associations as costly and duplicative of existing regulations, the repeal of this rule marks … Continue reading

The US EPA and BLM eye major reforms

By Barclay Nicholson (US) on December 19, 2017 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, United States

The US EPA released an advanced notice of proposed rule-making to solicit public comments for possible modifications to the Clean Power Plan.… Continue reading

PA federal judge strikes down municipal fracking ban

By Barclay Nicholson (US) and Robby Marcum (US) on October 9, 2017 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, Marcellus Shale, Northeast, Pennsylvania, Utica shale

Late last month, a federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania struck down a township’s ban on fracking activities. The ban, which prevented the injection of fracking waste into a well underlying the town, was preempted by state and federal law, said the judge. The judge ruled that the ban was preempted by the federal Safe Drinking … Continue reading

US 10th Circuit dismisses Obama-era fracking litigation

By Barclay Nicholson (US) and Robby Marcum (US) on September 26, 2017 Posted in Hydraulic fracking, United States

The US 10th Circuit on Thursday dismissed the challenge to an Obama-era fracking rule that imposed strict requirements on oil and gas operators on federal and tribal lands. The rule was blocked in 2015 and never took effect. The three-judge panel dismissed the case in its entirety—including the lower court’s decision to block the rule—in … Continue reading